Chris Phillips first heard the talk on the radio, during his drive home following a game. He heard about it again a couple of days later, after it was mentioned on Hockey Night in Canada.

"I had a few messages after the game (from people saying) 'What's going on?' " Phillips said Monday.

What's going on is that, with every day the Senators don't open contract negotiations with his agent and every game the team loses, the speculation grows that this could be Phillips' last season in Ottawa.

The first pick in the 1996 draft, Phillips has spent his entire career with the Senators. While he is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent July 1, he has no desire to leave.

But he has not had a good season (40 games, 0 goals, three assists, minus-15), and with top prospects such as David Rundblad, Patrick Wiercioch, Jared Cowen and Eric Gryba ready to challenge for a spot on the Ottawa blue line next season, the team might decide to cut ties with Phillips.

If such is the case, he could be traded to a contender as a rental before the deadline.

"I hadn't really given any thought to it," said Phillips. "At some point, there's going to have to be some communication between myself and the team, to see what their plans are, what my plans are and where I sit in the future. I really don't want to speculate on stuff that could potentially happen, that might not even be an option for me."

Phillips, who considered moving the last time his contract was about to expire, joked about being the "brunt" of trade rumours when he started his career. Things are different now, as he has a no-movement clause.

Phillips says he's not distracted by what could or might happen.

"I'm realistic to know they're possibilities, but they're not with me 24-7, wondering what's going to happen," he said. "You come to the rink, you work as hard as you can trying to be a leader for this team, help get this team turned around ... that's 100% of my focus."